Enterprise process modeling and development environments allow developers to use tools to model, develop and deploy business process applications in standardized formats (e.g., Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)) leveraging standardized protocols (Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Java Message Service (JMS), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.) to integrate with third party systems.
Previously described modeling and development environments can be classified into high-level (typically runtime-independent) process modeling tools, such as IBM® WebSphere® Business Modeler Advanced, and runtime-specific model implementation tools, such as IBM® WebSphere® Integration Developer. Process modeling tools usually cover one or several modeling standards, such as BPMN and BPEL, which are independent from a particular product/technology.
Artifacts created in the modeling tools serve as input for runtime specification tools, which bridge the process model and one (or several) specific runtime environments. If there are runtime environments capable of interpreting industry standard models the process modeling tools may export models directly to the runtime environments.
A business process runtime environment, such as IBM® WebSphere® Process Server, executes processes designed by such modeling and development environments. Different business process runtime environments have different strengths and weaknesses.
A typical process model contains a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product. Typically, a process model represents the entirety or part of an enterprise's business process. A process model may be broken down into several sub-processes.